New Lens, Clean Sensor, Test Photos of the Local Wildlife

Any beginner who has started taking photography a bit more seriously will realise that the lens that came with their camera can be quite limiting. It’s usually an 18 to 55 mm zoom (approximately 1 to 3 times magnification if you think in those terms) and you’ll soon discover that 55mm is not long enough to catch wildlife in the distance, 18mm is not wide enough to take really nice landscapes and night sky shots. And the small maximum aperture is not enough for good shots in dim light or to play with wide ranging depth of field.

The other day I took my camera in to get its filthy sensor cleaned and was checking out some lenses, tossing up between a 55-200mm zoom and a 70-300. I liked the 55 end of the kit zoom I had and wanted to explore beyond. The 300 was tempting but I really didn’t want to miss out on experiencing the gap between 55 and 70. Pft! you might say. It’s only 15 mm and the extra 100mm at the top more than makes up for the 15mm at the lower end. Maybe so, but I will never know if I never try. I was very uncomfortable with that gap so I bought the 55-200.

I picked the camera up during the week and took the new lens for a spin in the vacant scrub-land on the hill behind us. Here are some of the better shots. Feel free to criticise. 🙂 All in all, very happy with the lens. Feel free to click to my Flickr page in the menu on the right –>

I’m not a botanist so have no idea what this is. In fact it appears on its way to the great flower bed in the sky.

Gotta love the composition on this one. Trying too hard to hide the wilting flower off the left hand side. May as well give up and say there’s a dying purple flower off the left hand side. Love the butterfly though. It was the only one I managed capture before it flew away.

Correct me if I’m wrong but I think this is a scotch thistle… with one decent flower… and three not so decent.

I was walking up the hill concentrating on plants when I looked up and spotted about six roos on the ridge. Panicking about missing a potentially awesome shot, I started snapping away, fumbling with the focus ring, to produce exactly zero shots with good focus. This is the best of those shots, cropped slightly for composition.He was the only one kind enough to hang around and pose for his portrait!

Similar story as with the Kangaroo. Plant spotting and I heard a commotion behind a patch of blackberries. Fox fight! One of them scampered away, before I caught this one looking straight at me.

And finally he takes flight, well, ground.

Again, my botany knowledge is lacking. Can anyone tell me what these are? They are about half an inch long top to bottom. It was late morning and still dripping with dew. Beautiful.